{"id":333,"date":"2023-11-12T18:16:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-12T17:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stpegashoney.co.uk\/?p=333"},"modified":"2023-11-12T18:30:08","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T17:30:08","slug":"two-sugar-plus-oneish-water-equals-working-out-sugar-syrup-volumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stpegashoney.co.uk\/?p=333","title":{"rendered":"Two sugar plus one(ish) water equals? Calculating sugar syrup volumes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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25kg sugar and 12.5 litres of water just doesn’t fit!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s over now, but the last few months I’ve been making up large amounts of sugar syrup to feed the bees for the winter. This year I bought in bulk 25kg bags of sugar from my local Booker wholesaler, whereas in previous years it has often been cheaper to buy in from a local supermarket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the autumn the usual recommendation is that we feed a “thick” syrup, of roughly 2 parts sugar by 1 part water (weight for weight). This feeding is designed to help the bees survive the winter and is only fair after I’ve taken a honey crop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My general technique for making the syrup is to heat the water to boiling then add the sugar, turn off the heat and stir until dissolved. Sometimes I’ll add slightly more water than the recipe to make it easier to get the sugar to dissolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m always left with the same question, how much syrup will it make? If I mix say 25kg of sugar with 12.5 litres of water how much syrup will it yield? I know as it dissolves the volume of the water increases, so it’s going to be more than 12.5 litres, and I know it’s going to be less than 37.5 litres (as it doesn’t go up by a whole litre per kilo)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’re probably asking why I care, there are two reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n